Birds on Pancharevo

One of the presents we received for Christmas was a pair of binoculars. So, for our first hiking in the new 2025 we decided to go to the nearest lake to our home - Pancharevo, to have a walk in the forest and do some bird watching.

Unlike our latest hike here in November, this time the trails were much more difficult to walk, because of the icy surface. We are actually planning a visit to the nearest Decathlon sports shop for a pair of crampons - easy trails can quickly become dangerous when the sun during the day and the icy cold temperatures during the night turn them into ice rings.

There were hundreds of ducks on the ice, which we observed first from above and then up close from the lake.

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

 

Husband: men's boxers, Knipmode cargo pants, Burda Hoodie, Orange Hat

I:  lingerie, Burda blouse, Red cardigan, CC copycat hat

Hike info:

Destination: lake Pancharevo

Mountain: Lozen

Total length: 7 km

Elevation gain: 130 m

Total duration (plus picnic and rests): 2 and a half hours

Average difficulty: 2 / 10

Apart from the many ducks, there were also cormorants and herons.

We found a nice spot near the lake, with tree trunks to sit on, were we had our warm tee and sandwiches and watched the birds on the ice. A good start of our hiking year :)

Purple Blouse with Flounce Sleeves for Gaby

Last year in the section for precut small pieces of fabric and remnants in my favourite fabric shop I came upon a piece of very soft and beautiful cotton jacquard fabric and made myself one of my most favourte blouses, using a fairly fresh for that time Burda 12/ 2023  pattern. Not long afterward I found another piece of the same fabric and I snatched it for Gaby, planning to make her the same blouse.

However, when Gaby came for Christmas, she decided that she would prefer a more fitted blouse with interesting 7/8 flounce sleeves.

For the body of the blouse I used my tried-and-true Burda 6820, which I've sewn so far in plenty of variations - boat neck, henley neck, short, 7/8 and long sleeves, deep scoop and crew neck, almost every variation on the fitted T-shirt I could think of :) If I've counted them correctly, this is the eleventh blouse I've made out of this pattern!

As far as modifications go, this one was fairly close to the pattern. I changed the neckline, which I raised significantly and closed with a band and I took in the width of the shoulders by 1.5 cm, as Gaby has fairly narrow shoulders compared to the standard Burda model.

Pattern: BurdaStyle 6820

Size: 36, modified

Fabric: soft cotton jacquard, 1 m

Time to make: 3 days

The only interesting moment in this iteration of the pattern were of course, the flounce sleeves. I watched a couple of videos on the construction of such sleeves and in the end decided on the slash and cut method. I took a piece of paper, cut it in the form of a rectangle with length - the length of the flounce and width -  the width of the sleeve at the point of joining. Then I decided on the desired circumference of the hem of the sleeve, cut the rectangle in six pieces, spread them fan-like and the pattern of the flounce was ready - it's so easy. And because I'm a nerd, I even made a mock-sleeve out of a remnant fabric piece, to be sure, that I had nailed what Gaby had in mind.

I think the blouse came out fairly interesting and I actually plan to make myself a similar one for the spring/summer season out of light cotton-viscose fabric.

Blue Hoodie for Gaby's Boyfriend

Two years ago I sewed a hoodie for Vali - Gaby's boyfriend, and that is still his favourite hoodie. Two years is a long period of time, so it was time for a new hoodie. Gaby and I chose the fabric - double sweatshirt fabric and the color - light milky blue. The pattern is the same I used last time for him - Brad by Vikisews

 Last time I had made some minor modifications to the pattern - I extended the width by 1 cm, a total of 4 cm, lowered the neck by 1 cm and shortened the body and the sleeves. Although Vali liked the hoodie as it was, I thought it needed some lengthening, so this time I returned the pattern to its original length. As it turned out, it came out a bit too long, so the third time should probably be the charm lengthwise :) 

I don't remember whether I made any mods to the hood last time, however now I decided to use a completely different hood, which I know fits men's heads well - from a Burda hoodie I made for husband last year. I bought a thick cord for the hood and installed my biggest grommets - I think they look nice.

Pattern:  Hoodie Brad by Vikisews

Size: 178-184 cm; 40; modified

Fabric: sweatshirt knit fabric, rib knit, cotton knit

Time to make: five days

I also added the kangaroo pocket I had designed for this sweatshirt last time, as this hoodie comes without a pocket.

I hope the new hoodie would be as much loved and worn as the green one:)

This was actually the last finished project for 2024, but I still have to show you the blouse I made for Gaby before that, so there will be more 2024 FO pictures soon.